By Mario de Queiroz
OPORTO, Portugal, Jul 28 2000 (IPS)

The European Union (EU) is accumulating grain reserves while a large portion of the world population suffers poverty and malnutrition, a problem that 42 of Europe’s agriculture ministers agreed Friday to make a priority.

The EU ministers and their counterparts from the remaining European countries ended a four-day Regional Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Friday in this city 300 km north of Lisbon.

Portugal’s agriculture minister, Capoulas Santos, said the food disparity cannot be resolved with donations, which do not fill the stomachs of the poor, but instead feed “the extensive networks of corruption” that appear when concrete solutions are not at hand.

Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, of the Socialist Party, emphasised that institutions like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) alone cannot undertake the fight against hunger and poverty, “because not everything in agriculture is financial or technocratic.”

FAO director-general Jacques Diouf acknowledged that the generosity of Europe is laudable in providing food assistance to populations affected by natural or man-made disasters.

But the region could do better in helping farmers, shepherds and fishing communities in troubled countries through the transference of technology and agricultural knowledge, he added.

If the EU makes this policy a priority, “Europe will be an essential factor for stability and progress in the world,” said Diouf, emphasising that universal food security is a challenge to be confronted head-on, “in order to reduce the unacceptable number” of people suffering from malnutrition around the world.

In achieving a balance in grain production over the last five years in Europe, Diouf pointed out that the region’s average production increased 1.8 percent despite unfavourable weather conditions.

But the poorer European countries – Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Moldavia -, there were alarming declines, as grain production in 1999 represented just 38 percent of the total output in 1995.

As far as food security, the European ministers unanimously threw their support behind the “Codex Alimentarius,” or food code, which seeks to harmonise national food standards.

The agriculture ministers and FAO officials agreed that the Codex must promote a global vision for food security, from production in the field to the table of the consumer, which means holding everyone in the process accountable.

This includes those who produce feed for animals that will later provide meat and other products for human consumption.

The FAO called on governments to take action to ensure that people are provided with detailed information about what they are eating, “through labelling that is truly informative.”

Such information must also be provided “when scientific opinions on the presence or absence of health risks are not unanimous,” especially in the case of genetically modified foods.

As the four-day conference drew to a close Friday, the ministers applauded the FAO’s leadership role in ensuring food security.

They stressed the UN agency’s efforts in the Codex Alimentarius commission, which the agriculture leaders said would have a major impact on countries trying to improve consumer protections while also boosting access to international markets.

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